WHC is a week away. I can’t believe I am flying to Atlanta in six days and still have so much to do. SHIT!So far I have limited, signed edition chapbooks set aside for the following people:1.John Boden2.Andrew Freudenberg3.Stephen Williams4.Aaron Gudmunson5.Chris & Kim6.Kenneth Cain7.Michael Randolph8.Rose Blackthorn9.Kurt Fawver10.Beth Murphy11.Nelson Pyles12.Tony Tremblay13.Sandy Gibbons14.John Foster15.Ken Wood 16.Aaron Sterns17.Morgan Griffith18.David North-Martino19.Adam House20.MJ Preston

For the record, anyone who provided a blurb will not be paying for it, so don’t even try. (Aaron G...we will discuss this further!)

But I’d like to ask anyone not attending the convention in Atlanta to please allow me to send these out after I return since I’m just so pressed for time. They’re all numbered and signed and set aside for you in clear plastic slipcases, and when I get back I will also inscribe them with a personal note as a thank you for waiting. Since these first twenty sold so fast, I uploaded and ordered a second edition that do not have the numbered signature page and with a slightly different design that I will sell if the limited edition runs out. They won’t have the special seal the limited edition chapbooks have on the slipcase or receive a personalized inscription.

Anyway, if you guys can sit tight, I’ll be in touch about sending these your way upon my return. Some are going to Australia, Canada, England, and other wild destinations, so I may need some time to hunker down at the post office. Thanks for your support!

Now onto the con. Check out these badges, with art provided by James Powell. Cool, huh?

There will also be a limited supply of bookmarks designed by Greg Chapman, who is not only an artist, but one hell of a writer. Check these out...I hope I get my hands on one.

I mentioned before that I will have an interview with Jack Ketchum for his Lifetime Achievement Award appearing in the Souvenir Book. From HWA President Lisa Morton: “Here's a sneak peek at the gorgeous cover for our souvenir book, featuring art by Artist Guest of HonorBob Eggletonand edited by Eric J. Guignard and Bailey Hunter.This baby is FAT, too—over 100,000 words of horrorific fiction, nonfiction, art, and more.”

The Programming for WHC must have been a herculean task, and Anya Martin and her team have done an extraordinary job at putting together a fantastic lineup of events. I'll be on some myself, but I'm really looking forward to attending several panels and readings and just can't wait for all of this to happen.

Check out the full schedule of eventshere. The HWA has been running a series of interviews called "Know a Nominee" in the weeks before the convention. These are edited by Doug Murano and facilitated by the lovely Emma Audsley.Here are some of the nominees who have been interviewed so far:Leslie KlingerJohn F. D. TaffCorrinne De WinterPatrick FreivaldUsman T. MalikCraig DiLouieSteve Rasnic TemRena MasonStephanie M. Wytovich

Check out the first in the series of interviews here, and you can read the rest from there.

Check out this killer trailer Michael Bailey made for the book, which even my mother thinks is "awesome."

On Friday, May 8th, from 4-5 PM, I’ll be attending a panel called “Readings and Shenanigans for THE LIBRARY OF THE DEAD and QUALIA NOUS in SARNATH.

Description: Official book launch for The Library Of The Dead, and a celebration of Qualia Nous (Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Superior Achievement in an Anthology). Readings, signings, and 10 boo giveaways of each title.

The Library of the Dead will also be relaunched atAnthoCon in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from June 5-7, 2015.

Speaking of AnthoCon, Tim Deal of Shroud just released the Spring Issue, which features "Estuary," my poem about a death which has haunted me for almost eighteen years. You can find it on Amazon in eBook here, and Tim will later compile the work from it into a print omnibus edition. Get a load of this cover.

Gene O’NeillRamsey CampbellJessica May LinPaul Michael AndersonStephen KingRichard Thomas...and more announcements to come.Here's the cover, another spectacular work of art by Michael Bailey.

Speaking of Michael Bailey, I'm going to be bringing a few copies of Inkblots and Blood Spotswith me to WHC, but if you are going and want an autographed copy your best bet is to bring yours or pick one up now.

The books I will have with me in very limited quantity are below, and I'm not sure what Eagle Eye Books will have in stock. So if you want anything signed please be sure to bring it!

Bram Stoker Awards, WHC Atlanta, and other news...

I could not have been more shocked to learn that "Baby's Breath" made it through to the Final Ballot of the Bram Stoker Awards, released last month by theHorror Writers Association.

You can find the full list of nominees here. Best of luck to all the finalists, and congratulations on your nominations!

I wrote a longer post about this onFacebook, but the simple truth is that this nomination is extremely humbling and all very surreal.

There are a lot of people I feel are a direct result of any successes I achieve in my writing or otherwise, so really, most of my posts end up consisting of a long list of names anyway.

But this story has proven to be pivotal for me in a lot of ways...it was an accomplishment for me just to write to begin with, and Simon Rumley's words of praise about it in the Foreword of Bugs: Tales that Slither, Creep and Crawl quite literally meant the world to me.

Then to have it go on to win the award for Best Horror Short Story and now this is just mind blowing, really.

You can read "Baby's Breath" here. I'll also be bringing a limited number of chapbooks to the World Horror Convention in Atlanta and possiblyAnthoCon to sign, so if you'd like a copy, let me know. I'm working with an outrageously talented artist who I'm keeping under wraps for now. But I'm really excited. My eternal gratitude goes to the HWA and each and every member who felt my work was worthy of this prestigious nomination. It's something I will treasure for the rest of my life.I'm also very grateful toMarge Simon, who asked me to guest her Blood & Spades Column for the April issue of the HWA Newsletter. I've written an essay called "The Slow Bite of Horror's Tiny Teeth" and incorporated a few of my poems into the column, which was a lot of fun. Last month Michael Bailey guested the column and talked a lot about Inkblots and Blood Spots, the collectionVillipedereleased of his last November. He also included "Open Auras" and "All But the Things That Cannot Be Torn," two of my favorite poems from the collection.

Another reason I'm grateful to Marge is because she invited me to be on the Dark Poets Panel at this year's World Horror Convention. It's such an honor...and if you'll be in Atlanta for the con, I do hope you'll stop by.

In other words, if you're going, I'm looking forward to seeing you...and if you're not registered yet, you should be.

My imaginary roommate Ted is even making an appearance! Ted is driving all the way from Kentucky to be there...I can hardly believe it myself.

There are three people who won't be going that I'll miss dearly, though: Rose Blackthorn, Geno Mortensen, and Carl R. Moore. Those three were my WHC crew last year in Portland, and it won't be the same without them. But check out Rose's new release from Eldritch Press--I'm really proud of her--her first poetry collection, Thorns, Hearts and Thistlesis almost as beautiful as she is. And Carl has a novella called Torn From the Devil's Chest forthcoming from Charoin Coin Press, and his website has free stories, poems, and updates on the progress. Carl posts great reviews and also has another fantastic collection called Slash of Crimson and Other Stories coming out in the near future, as well.

Lastly, my interview with Jack Ketchum will appear in the Souvenir Book this year, which is really exciting. I absolutely loved reading his answers to my questions, and can't wait for you to see them, too. I was thrilled when Eric Guignard reached out to me to interview Jack for his Lifetime Achievement Award. Here's a picture of last year's Souvenir Book.

Anyway, to tie off, some of you know that my son has been in the hospital for a week now, and between my health issues and his, we've had an extremely challenging year. I'm certainly nervous about the timing of the convention and have been wrapped up in family matters here at home, but am really looking forward to seeing everyone and taking some time away to focus on my second love. I'm sure you all know what that is by now.

Recently, I was lucky enough to be awarded Best Horror Short Story for "Baby's Breath" in the 2014 P&E Readers' Poll. I'm so grateful for everyone who took the time to read the story and vote for me, and especially appreciative for those of you who took the time to leave feedback. It meant a great deal. This award means a great deal.

Yesterday I found out that "Baby's Breath" also made the 2014 Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballot in the category for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction. What an honor. Just last month I upgraded from Affiliate to Active Status in the HWA, and feel truly blessed to be part of such a talented, gracious community of writers, artists, and professionals in the horror industry.

I mentioned recently on Facebook that "Baby's Breath" carried a substantial amount of personal significance to me for a few reasons. In a nutshell, it's a tribute to someone I never met, but have learned to love through the eyes of another. I've come to know this woman from someone who has become a stronger person for all of her weaknesses and the tragedies she faced throughout her short, sad, and pained life. And despite her weaknesses, she also had many strengths.

That said, the Diane in my story is not the same Diane about whom I am speaking. Though based on some fact, I took her story to the extreme--as we often do in horror--and in my own way, sought some vindication for her that she was unable to find on her own.

In addition to basing this story on the real-life story of someone else, an astute friend pointed out that a lot of "Baby's Breath" seems to be an unveiling of some of the emotional, physical, and psychological horrors I faced in the many years following the accident which retired me from teaching at 36 years of age. That friend was right.

There's quite a bit of symbolism in "Baby's Breath" that dwells beneath the uncomfortable, unpleasant, and often unbearable surface of the narrative. Those years following my accident were long, lonely, and excruciating--and coming to terms with the grief of losing a career I had worked and fought so hard to secure was not easy. I had a lot of support from my family and friends, and can't imagine what it must be like for someone to endure such an ordeal without that--so relatively speaking, I always tried to consider myself extremely lucky.

Writing the story was hard. It was only the second I wrote start to finish after emerging from the black hole into which I had fallen after the accident. Years of pain, post-concussive symptoms, surgeries, fighting the nightmare that is worker's compensation, depression . . . there was a time I never thought I would read again, let alone write. Diane's descent into madness, insecurity, paranoia, and reclusivity was likely an exaggerated depiction of what I experienced during that time, though while writing it I'm not altogether sure I was aware of this. I think it takes a step back--or even someone else pointing it out after the fact--to recognize something like this happening in our writing.

Do you ever find yourself unintentionally writing about your own experiences in your work? Writing yourself into your characters?

Like King said, "Fiction is the truth inside the lie."

My "write nights" with Tracy were instrumental in my recovery--as both a functioning human being and writer. I wrote the first paragraph of "Baby's Breath" and had it published as a hundred word piece called "Transference" on Hellnotesin January of last year, and at the prodding of Ann K. Boyer, another good friend, fleshed it out into a short story for the BUGS anthology.

Simon Rumley's praise for "Baby's Breath" in the Foreword did more for me than I can describe in words. But I will say that reading what he said about my work was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments I will never forget. I'd be remiss not to thank the great Daniel Knauf for his invaluable support both as a friend and professional, as well.

And to all of you who have offered help and assistance along the way--be it through friendship or support of this story and/or other work--thank you. You can't possibly know how much it means to me.

My first "professional" experience assimilating back into the industry was negative and unpleasant to say the least, and if it weren't for the kindness and actual professionalism so many of you showed to outweigh that, it would have been easy to just give up.

But if an accident like the one I had can't keep me down, and cancer can't beat me, one bad apple in the barrel sure isn't going to make me toss the whole thing out. It just makes me appreciate the goodness of the others that much more.

These are some of the kind things readers and peers have said about it:

“The narrator's slow unhinging is perfectly paced and the author pushes against the border of the grotesque just enough to make the story as viscerally disturbing as it is psychologically unsettling . . . A supremely skilled tale of the decomposition of a relationship and the horrifying consequences of failed parenthood.”

“I was in pain the entire time I read this story. A fantastic piece of horror that burrows deep into the psyche as well as the skin.”

“exquisitely grotesque”

“A visceral story that gets right under your skin.”

“The writing is tight and spare . . . The non-sequential narrative is handled effectively, allowing the story to open with a strong hook before rewinding to fill in the details of the germinating horror.”

“engrossing from the first page until the last, and deliciously horrific throughout.”

“short, sharp, emotional and uncomfortable”

“An exquisitely dreadful story.”

“The most chilling short I read all year.”

Of course I am *beyond* thrilled that both "Dandelion Clocks" and Inkblots and Blood Spotsappear on the ballot, as well. We at Villipede are very proud of that collection and honored to be representing Michael Bailey's stellar work. I simply can't say enough about the collection, except that I believe with every fiber of my being that it fully deserves to be on the ballot. You've all heard me rave about it for some time now, and I am pleased to see it among such fine company in its category.

As far as "Dandelion Clocks" goes, well . . . Michael seems surprised it made it through, but I'm not. Again, he's in really good company! But I fell head over heels in love with that novelette and think he deserves a place on the ballot as much as anybody. And the fact that Douglas E. Winter guest-edited that piece makes it even more special to me.

Huge congratulations to everyone on this list. I am so incredibly honored to be included in such company!

Voting for works on the Preliminary Ballot will take place between February 1st and 15th, and the Final Ballot will be announced on February 23rd. Anyone who appears on the Final Ballot will be a Bram Stoker Nominated Author or Artist.

Voting HWA Members: For copies of "Baby's Breath," "Dandelion Clocks," or Inkblots and Blood Spots, feel free to shoot me an email or PM via my contact page. They are also available to download on the HWA Forum.

The lucky winners of the Bram Stoker Awards will be announced on May 9th at the awards ceremony during the 2015 World Horror Convention in Atlanta.

Author & Editor

﻿Sydney Leigh is the evil literary double of a mostly sane writer, editor, photographer, artist, English teacher, and native of the North Shore. Her poetry, short fiction, and reviews have appeared in numerous publications.

Her best friend is a Border Collie, and despite holding degrees in English, Psychology, and Graphic Design, she spends most of her free time doing her teenage son’s laundry and playing rock-paper-scissors with her imaginary roommate, Ted.